In the Middle Ages, the Roman Catholic Church was established for the purpose of protecting Europe from the invasions of barbarian tribes and to make religious life excellent. This church did commendable work for the spread of civilization in the Middle Ages, but by the early years of the sixteenth century there was a serious change in the situation in Europe. By the end of the Middle Ages, many defects had arisen in the Church. Churches were now becoming places of corruption and luxury. In this way, the movement that took place in Europe in the sixteenth century against the evils prevalent in the Church and Pope, is known as religious reformation.
Causes of the religious reformation movement
The immediate acceptance of the doctrine established by Luther, by the contemporary European society, is a direct proof that the Reformation had many causes, because it is impossible for any one doctrine to receive such a powerful support suddenly for the attainment of a single cause or purpose. The reasons for the religious reform movement are as follows-
1. Evils in the Church
Now the churches had become centers of corruption and luxury. The king could not prosecute them in any way, even if they had committed any crime. Another evil prevailing in the Church of that time was the practice of pluralities, by which a priest could preside over several churches and hold several positions. Due to this custom, the arrangement of the churches could not be proper and due to the high income of the priests, their luxury increased.
2. The Evils of the Pope
The Pope was considered the unofficial emperor of Christendom and considered himself to be the representative of God. The Pope was the protector of all Christian states and in each country he appointed his representatives, Ligate and Nuncious, who were not ready to accept orders from anyone other than the Pope. To make his powers more autocratic, the Pope had two privileges, using which he used to prove his autocracy from time to time. One of these privileges was the right to interdict by which he could order the closure of one or all churches in any country. This was an important right because due to the closure of the churches, all religious functions on the occasions of birth, marriage, death etc. in that country would have been banned and thus the public would have to face immense difficulties. The second privilege was called 'ex-communication'. Using this right, he could dethrone the king of any country from Christianity and thus remove him from his position because the king of any other religion could not be the ruler of a Christian country, due to these privileges every Christian king and the people of the country were afraid of the Pope and could not dare to oppose him. The Pope exercised these rights on King Henry II of England.
3. Fall in respect for the Pope
In 1309 AD, the Pope made Ayugnen his capital in place of Rome. It was situated on the border of France. Ayugnen remained the capital of the Pope till 1378 AD, but this period of about seventy years had a wide impact on the religious and political situation of that time. The influence of the King of France on the Pope increased due to the stay of the Pope, due to which the Christian nations of Europe, who were enemies of France, became angry with the Pope and started hating him. For this reason, the ruler of England, Edward III, tried to reduce the authority of the Pope and the churches in England. In 1378 AD, the honor of the Pope suffered a serious blow because at that time there were two Popes and they started calling each other atheists. This situation remained till 1417 AD, due to which the self-respect of the Pope decreased in Europe and the signs of decline in his power began to appear.
4. Powerful despotic monarchies in Europe and their wishes
The property of the churches, the land was increasing rapidly, so the rulers of Europe kept an eye on the property of the churches and the Pope and they wanted to take over it, because the kings of medieval European countries were in great need of money. So they were waiting for the opportunity. Ramsey Mure has also considered the irregularities prevalent in the church and the desire of the kings of the nations of Europe to take over the property of the churches, among the main reasons for the religious movement.
5. Development of nationalism among the people
Due to the influence of the Pope, people had to accept the orders of the Pope instead of the rule of their country. With the rise of the modern era, national sentiment was born in every country and the public was beginning to wake up to the feeling that the Pope was a foreigner, so it became the duty of every country to eliminate the influence of the Pope. People wanted to be loyal to their country. The public had started considering the country more important than religion and churches.
6. Renaissance effect
People became rational because of renaissance. Therefore, they were not ready to accept any theory or thing in the absence of sufficient evidence. Due to Renaissance humanism and secularism, there was a serious impact in the religious field. The Bible was translated into national languages, and the invention of the printing press made it easier to read the Bible. Many religious reformers of Europe went to Italy and after returning to their country informed the public about the evils prevailing in the Pope and religion. In this way Renaissance showed the way to the religious reform movement.
7. Opposition to the Pope by Courageous Reformers
From time to time, there were many religious reformers in Europe who put the evils prevalent in the Pope and churches in front of the public. Wycliffe is a famous name among these religious reformers. Wycliffe was a professor at Oxford University in England. At the time of Edward III, he raised his voice against the churches and put before the public the political influence of religion and its ill-effects. Wycliffe translated the Bible into English so that people could understand its real meaning and avoid being misled by the clergy. Wycliffe told the king that money was the reason for the corruption prevailing in the churches and suggested him to take possession of their money and property to make the churches and religion sacred again. The second major religious reformer in Bohemia. Hus was a professor at the University of Prague. He propagated new ideas, as a result of which he was burnt alive in 1415 AD. Although Jan Hus died, his principles lived on. The third religious reformer Savonarola took place in Italy, he was also sentenced to death.
8. Immediate Cause
To earn extra money, the Pope received from each Christian nation a portion of his annual income, called anets or first fruits, and various posts were sold in churches. In this way the Pope and the various churches had accumulated immense wealth. But to meet his rising expenses, the Pope had also found a way to earn money. He started giving Indulgence. Anyone could obtain a Indulgence from the Pope by paying money to free himself. This broke the faith of the Christians and they started protesting against the actions of the Pope. Martin Luther led this protest. Martin Luther began to educate people that no one could be absolved of his sins by purchasing indulgences. Money was not the way to attain salvation. It was necessary for man to repent for his past sins.
In short, the sale of Indulgence was the immediate cause of the Reformation. Martin Luther condemned this practice in his Ninety-five Theses and thus started a movement against sin. However, other reasons also cannot be ruled out.
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